The Drabble Scrolls
by scorpiaux
Summary: Drabbles of all of our favorite ATLA characters. Travel through puberty, blindness, love, monkhood, and just plain randomness. Rated for suggestive themes, later character death. Mostly Kataang, Tokka, and Maiko. CHAPTER SEVEN UP.
1. Katara: Growing Older Together

**The Drabble Scrolls**

**Summary: **Drabbles of all of our favorite Avatar characters: their relationships, histories, and futures. Mostly KatAang and Tokka, but will be flexible. The first scroll? Puberty. Rated for suggestive themes, language, character death.

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone. I've seen a lot of drabble series here on the site (many entitled "100 Drabbles in 100 Days or some other foolish promise like that), and so I've decided to make my own drabble series...only they won't fill 100 chapters nor will I complete them in 100 days.

At most, as I update everything else, the new drabbles will come on Saturdays or Fridays (and they'll be good drabbles too, nice and long and making sense, not some short little blurb). Most of this IS going to be KatAang, Tokka, and Taang, but like I said, I'm flexible. Unless there really, really is some one out there who wants to see me do Zutara or some other ship, I usually don't steer in that direction.

In any case, please let me know your thoughts of the drabbles (I have a bad habit: I read drabbles, add them to my favorites, and then don't review. This is extremely bad literary critiquing! Don't do the same thing!) Ideas are welcome, and I don't mind flames as long as they are minor and are written with both the author and reader in mind.

Remember to review and comment! Enjoy reading!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, which does not belong to me.

* * *

_Growing Old Together_

* * *

He was just a child a few days ago. I think I was too. I don't know what happened. Fact of the matter is, though, that he's changed, and I've changed...in more ways than I can fully and truly describe. 

It's not that I'm blind to it, either. Gran Gran told me that all children have to grow up some time. She did a fine job of explaining it, too. She said a soul can't stay in a child's body forever, that at one point everyone has to grow a little taller, a little wider, a little more different.

Problem is, I got the story Gran Gran watered down for me. "You'll just get a little wider around the hips, Katara...for baring children, you see. They can't fit in a child's hips. Likewise, dearest, your chest will grow. For feeding them." She had traced her hands in the air to form a curvy, wavy shape. "Just like this."

That's not the whole story (as I realized almost a year later), and it's not the only story, either. There's still the male side of the spectrum, which Gran Gran left completely to my imagination. Not that I asked. It wouldn't have been proper or comfortable. Sokka was the only male I paid any attention to besides my father, and I sure didn't want to know what was going on inside of neither coat.

The changes came quickly and didn't stop to consider timing or location. At the Norther Water Tribe, my old coat wouldn't fit anymore, and I had to buy a new one. I even ripped it accidentally while trying to put it on. Before that, when Aang and I would train on what little waterbending we already knew, he would constantly make comments that I would have very well done without.

"Katara, are your legs supposed to be that hairy?" or "Hey Katara, your chest bindings are coming undone from the shoulder again. Want me to tie them for you?" or even "Is it just me, or are you a little...bigger...today?"

It's not that Aang's comments were offensive. Shaving was a chore and I had to make new chest bindings almost every two weeks. It was just the fact that he was _noticing._ It made me not only self-conscience and shy, but also embarrassed. I felt as though he was giving me a little too much attention, and my face would instantly grow hot.

Then there was the staring.

When I starting thinking about how much attention he was giving _me_, I decided I would give some attention to _him _to see how he would like it.

But things went from bad to worse. I couldn't _stop _noticing, and Aang seemed to be enjoying all of the extra gazes and questions.

When I would comment, "Wow Aang, your voice must have cracked at least eight times today," he would answer, "Must be the weather. Sokka and I are coming down with a cold." When I would ask, "What's that weird lump in your throat?" he would calmly explain, "You know, a frog must have jumped into my mouth when I was sleeping."

I tried everything. I wanted to see him blush, to see him turn the other way and tell me that I wasn't the only one getting older, he was too. But he never did. He always explained everything the way a child would: blame the weather for his voice, continuous training for his new muscles, a frog in his throat for that lame excuse of an Adam's Apple. But, unlike me, he would never blush or grow self-conscience. He would just smile and accept my attention as constant praise.

And then, as if things weren't bad enough, I caught _myself _staring at him. There was a problem there. Everyone already sort of knew that Aang stared, and the lot of us thought it was cute how he would lose himself in thought (what kind of thought remains a mystery). But when I stared, I couldn't catch myself quick enough. His muscles had grown so lean and agile. His chest had puffed up twice its size from before. His voice, once an annoying, childish tone, now had a deep, oozing ring to it, a beautiful characteristic of a young man. There were other aspects I noticed, too. But even now I can't bring myself to admit to them.

It felt stupid to think about this, but I realized there was no other way around it. I tried very hard to stop noticing, to stop making comments, to stop wondering when all of his changes were going to be complete. But, as luck and fate would have it, I could not. I had fallen into a hobby. Watching, noticing, and thinking. Observing the world as it passed and critiquing its style.

I learned something from the experience, though. If I was watching the world, the world (and Aang) was watching back. I shaved almost every night, tied my chest bindings so that they almost compressed my breathing, and tried to make my behind look smaller by tying my loins looser and training with Aang in waist-deep waters. I paid more attention to my body than ever before: applied aloe lotions from the South Pole when I thought necessary to stop pimples from erupting, ate stewed sea prunes because they "settled the restless body," and even bleached out stubborn facial hairs that came out regardless of the aloe.

The results were merely eye candy, but the situation with Aang grew worse. It may have taken work to look this proper, but, in that specific moment, it was worth it. Aang's questions stopped completely. He didn't stop staring, though. In fact, the only thing that kept me at an uncomfortable distance was his constantly wondering gaze.

Instead of looking at my legs or shoulders (mere child's play in comparison), he began glancing upon my face and eyes. When I demonstrated a waterbending move for him, his attention wasn't on the water, but on the hips that dangled from my waist, and the breasts that had grown out of thin air right over my ribs.

This didn't make me blush. This made me furious. And, some time after our faltering departure from Ba Sing Sei, I erupted.

We were waterbending in a distant cove while Toph slept and Sokka gathered fruits from the market. I had been quite joyful that day: Aang was feeling better than ever and his staring had greatly decreased after Azula's deadly blow.

"Master Pakku told me that your form begins from your mind, falls out into your body, and allows you to do whatever you please with the water," I told him, demonstrating a move that he had yet to learn.

"Sounds easy enough," he said back, gazing at the clouds above us. "It looks like it'll rain today."

The water that I was levitating right above my head dropped like dead weight. "You don't seem very interested," I stated, a little louder than I had intended. I gathered my hair in both hands and squeezed the water out of it. "Something wrong?"

Aang's eyes darted from the sky above to the girl in front of him. The stare began.

"Aang?" I asked in annoyance. "Aang, what is it?"

He blinked, and I could see him turn bright red under my own gaze, before he shifted his weight and returned his stare to the sky. "Nothing."

"Oh?" I inquired, grabbing my kimono and burying my shoulders into it. "This happens every time we train, Aang. You start staring, I ask you what's wrong, and then you say nothing! What is it this time?" I was furious now, out of embarrassment and confusion. "Aang, what are you staring at? If you're going to make a comment, just go ahead and spit it out. I'm sick of acting like entertainment for you! If you're just going to...to..._look _at me, then...then..."

I looked down, hiding my eyes. I didn't know why, but they were tearing up. "Then maybe...we shouldn't train anymore." And I began heading for the banks of the river.

He touched my shoulder. I still remember the way he did it, too. Grasped me like I was some little kid, looked straight into my eyes, and pointed to his chest. "You didn't like it when I told you what I thought, Katara. And that's why I stopped."

I didn't know he had noticed my irritation at his comments before. I didn't know anyone had noticed.

"You want to know what I think now?" he asked me, his eyes still locked on mine. His voice cracked when he cleared his throat. "I think you're afraid of growing up and you're trying to hide it. I think even though you're burying everything, it's showing though. I think _you think_ your body is weird and gross...but it's not."

For the first time since his speech began, he looked down at the water. Even his tone softened. "It's not as bad as you make it out to be, Katara. In fact...it's...it's..." He trailed off. At the end of his silence, he looked back up to me, and grinned. "It's beautiful."

I was quiet. I think I stopped breathing at that point, too. The world spun and melted into the banks of the river and the arrows gracing Aang's arms and legs.

That's why he was staring. That's why he had said anything in the first place.

I looked down at my feet, ashamed and angry at myself for acting like I had. For refusing to accept the changes and for hating Aang's previous comments. But had he actually called me beautiful to my face?

All I could say was, "You were doing the same, Aang. You..."

He pulled his head down to meet my gaze. "Katara, we're both going to grow up someday." His smile was wide and warm. It made me wonder how he could possibly know what had been bothering me. "But that doesn't mean we have to do it alone."

"Do you even hear yourself when you talk?" I asked loudly, shoving his hand off of my shoulder. "What are we supposed to do then, Aang? _Talk _about what's going on? That's weird. Actually, that's not weird, Aang, that's just _creepy_. We can't tell each other everything."

And suddenly we were laughing. It wasn't an average laugh, either. It was a _fit_. Tears rolled from our cheeks as we thought about what I had said. Aang slapped his knees at least four times, and I was bent double with laughter.

"Hey Katara," he said, still giggling. "I'm getting some hair in really weird places." He pointed to his head. "Every time I shave it off, it just grows back!"

We laughed until we could no longer breathe. When the sun settled into the milky river, we had already put our clothes back on and were headed for the shore.

"Katara," he said before we could come too close to camp. "I'm sorry if...if I was..."

"No, it's my own fault." I murmured. "Aang...I guess I was being too self-conscience. You couldn't have been staring for that long." I paused, looking at him from head to foot. "Besides," I added quietly, "I think I've found myself doing the same thing."

We returned to camp that night without new waterbending experiences, but with red faces and racing heartbeats. Toph smiled in our general direction as if she knew something was going on.

"Some one sounds happy," she exclaimed, as if we didn't know. "There must be something laced in that river water."

Aang and I exchanged nervous glances before we sat down to eat.

What Gran Gran had told me years before was true, but she could have explained it in simpler terms, as I realized that night. I can imagine what she _could _have said, had she not been so paranoid about under-explanations. "Katara, it's easy," I imagine her saying. "You go through a few spurts, look a little different, and then you die." In my mind, I see my younger self growing depressed, until imaginary Gran Gran adds, "And if you're lucky, dearest, you'll find someone who will grow older with you forever." My younger self claps and dreams of a tall, handsome young man.

A young man making foolish comments at the wrong time, but with a heart as wide as the world, and with eyes benevolent and graceful, that stare for too long and have the power to send unreasonable amounts of heat to my face.

Maybe growing older together won't be so bad after all.


	2. Aang: Meant to be a Nomad

**The Drabble Scrolls **

**Author's Note**: Thanks for your reviews, everyone! I was pleased and surprised to find so much feed back. Keep the reviews a'comin'!

Also: There is a spoiler in this drabble about the Day of Black Sun. It's a fairly small spoiler and won't ruin the whole two episodes for you, but I thought I should warn you just in case.

And I know I have two straight chapters of KatAang, so I promise you all some Tokka in the upcoming chapters.

-ScorpioRed112

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_Meant to be a nomad_

* * *

The monks used to tell me, on more than one occasion, in fact, that love is a lot like the clouds. Woman shift and change and deteriorate with time; and, therefore, the only thing a soul will keep is the close, fitting connection with the universe. Far from the temporary love of a female. 

More specifically, when one of the older boys began showing interest in the opposite gender (being held guilty for watching the young nuns airbend across the nearby tower), he was asked if he wanted to become a nomad or a monk, and that he should choose wisely.

Some of us would laugh, looking at the older boys' expressions of love sickness and the way the other monks scolded them. Every boy there thought—scratch that, _knew—_that they were going to become monks. It was just plain common sense. It was just that simple.

Of course, unlike the other elderly males of his type, Monk Gyatso was the complete opposite of what can be considered a "monk." Actually, I would sometimes see his eyes divert to the female tower when we were training, a light blush spread across his face, and a goofy and expressive smile crept to his lips.

I never understood why, but seeing the young women sway and move around in the wind made him happy, as if somehow their grace and innocence gave him hope for the future. The only thing he ever said about it, though, was that I was too young to understand, and that maybe someday when I did understand, I would remember him.

When I met Katara one hundred years later, my freezing skin warmed up, my heart knocked on my rib cage, and a clear cut view of Monk Gyatso made its way to my mind.

I could never admit that, though. That instantly, when I saw Katara's lightly tanned face peering down so close to my own, I felt that we were meant to be together forever. I could never admit that. Not in a hundred years. Not in two hundred. Not ever.

Mostly I tell myself I'm waiting. Waiting for a time when we won't have as many problems to worry about. The war, the Fire Lord, and the state of the world. They are influential and very unpleasant topics...and that, for now, my love for an older, beautiful young woman will have to wait. Hopefully, if I'm lucky, she'll wait for me too.

Here's another excuse I've been using: I'm afraid of rejection. After all, once I kissed Katara on the Day of Black Sun, she never mentioned it again, and I think I was under a trance when it happened, because I can barely remember it.

I mean, I can see myself telling Katara I love her (I think about it way too often. It's frightening), and then I see her turning her head as if she doesn't understand. And then I scream, "Katara, did you hear me? I love you! I want to be with you forever. You're the only girl for me!" And then she takes a few steps back, fearfully and slowly, as if what I've just said is somehow going to put her life in danger.

She might say, "Sorry, Aang. But to be honest with you, I really don't think I'm ready for this kind of relationship." After all, Katara's always been so free spirited and alive...she might not want me to hold her down.

She might claim, "Aang, I've always planned to marry a Water Tribe man. And well...you being an Air Nomad and all...it might not work." Besides, we are pretty different. I mean, we're both people and she's a girl and I'm a boy and that's really all that matters. Sometimes she doesn't understand my jokes or my dialect because they're both old. Sometimes the generation gap between us tells me other wise. Hasn't she dreamed of someone from the Water Tribes her whole life?

She might add, "You know, you have a whole population to create. I've always wanted a small, tightly knit family." Well, come to think of it, Katara _is _the last waterbender from the South Pole, and I'm the last airbender. I wouldn't want anything bad for her, but I've always liked having a lot of people around. I mean, not in a population recreation sort of way. I want the Air Nomads to come back, I really do, but I wouldn't want them all out of Katara. I'm pretty sure it would kill her. Only ten children, Katara. Eleven tops...maybe twelve, because eleven is uneven. We could live at the Southern Air Temple because it's close to the South Pole. Wouldn't that be nice?

She could also slap me and say, "Aang, you're my best friend! Have you been entertaining thoughts of holding a relationship with me this whole time?" Well, to be honest, yes. Not in a dirty sort of way, or anything. I just liked looking at her and wondering what she thought of me. Does that count?

What worse, she could bring up, "Hate to break it to you, kid, but you're still a child. Avatar or not, you're small." Although I doubt Katara would ever say that, there was still a possibility. And what would I say then? That age doesn't really matter when you love someone as much as I love her? Would she listen?

She could start running away from me, looking back only once, and crying, "The Avatar loves me! Is fate this cruel? Every one wants to kill him and he loves me! He's going to drag me down to the Spirit World with him and keep me there forever!" As the Avatar, I've expected the possibility that I may die early. But I wouldn't let anyone touch Katara. Not in a million years. Her life comes before mine.

She could laugh and slap my shoulder. "Good one, Aang. Now lets go get something to eat." We laugh all the time...and sometimes she doesn't take me seriously.

When I start thinking about this, I think about Monk Gyatso watching the nun's tower. I doubt he ever spun things around in his mind the way I do. I think he just looked for the visible pleasure. No extreme passion plagued the corners of his heart or mind. When he thought of women, he thought of the many nuns that swam across the sky on their gliders. When I think of women, all I see is a single face, right above mine, tanned and still young, with eyes just as potent as ice.

Earlier today, on one of my thinking sessions, Toph slammed my shoulder with her fist and sat down next to me. "What are you so bummed about?" she asked casually. "You've been like this for three days."

"What? No, it's nothing. I've just been thinking."

"You sound like a wreck," she claimed. "Whatever your thinking about, it must be pretty depressing."

"It is," I said absentmindedly. "It is very depressing."

We were silent for a moment. I heard Toph swallow, as if she was also thinking about something. "It's Katara, isn't it?"

I nearly jumped. "Ha! Toph—" I was going to lie. I was going to ask her where she came up with that preposterous notion. I was going to tell her that I was thinking of something completely different. But then I remembered that she would know if I lied, and it would be embarrassing to try. Instead I looked around and made sure Katara wasn't within earshot and nodded miserably.

"Yeah, Toph. It's about Katara," I muttered, feeling my face grow warm. "How did...is it that obvious?"

"Not to the naked eye, it isn't," she explained, pulling her eye lids down and making a face. "But you've been moping around like a sick lemur for days. And your heartbeat's off."

"That doesn't mean anything," I said, shaking my head. "How did you know it was about Katara?"

She shrugged and crossed her legs. "Instinct. I guess that's the obvious part, Twinkle Toes. Why don't you just tell her and get it over with? What's the worse that could happen?"

You can probably imagine how strange this was, coming from Toph. I blinked, my gaze not leaving the horizon line. I wanted to tell her all of the possible things that Katara could say to me. But I choked and turned my face. "I don't know. It's not as easy as you're making it sound."

She punched my shoulder again, harder this time than before. "You're a spineless jellyfish, you know that? You're acting like a shy little girl!" She stood up and tightened her fists, pointing at my face. "If you like her enough to be thinking about her all the time, then why don't you just get it over with and tell Katara already?"

"Tell me what?"

That's when the conversation ended, and I think that's the first time I actually saw Toph blush. Her fists dropped and she rubbed her arm. As for me, I couldn't will my mouth to close. Had Katara actually heard what we had been talking about?

More importantly, why had Toph cared so much in the first place?

"Twinkle Toes will fill you in," was all the she said as she walked away.

Katara sat in Toph's place, watching as the earthbender made her way to Sokka. "What was that all about?" she asked me.

We heard Sokka scream as Toph shifted the earth beneath his feet, sending him flying.

"It was nothing, Katara. Really. We were just talking about..." I trailed off, rubbing the back of my neck.

"About what?"

"Nothing," I stated quietly. "It's nothing. Really, Katara. It really is nothing. We were talking about nothing. It was just nothing." I was stammering, but somehow I couldn't stop.

She smiled at me and curled her knees under her chin. "Well, I heard my name and I heard 'tell her already,' or something similar. I figured that it must've been important." She sighed. "But, if it's as unimportant as you say, I guess it really was nothing."

"Yup! Just nothing! Ha—" I started to cough (quite falsely, by the way). "So don't worry about it, okay? Because, it was nothing, like I said. And don't ask Toph, either." Suddenly I could imagine Toph telling Katara everything I had just told her. My heart sprang up to my throat. "Because it was just nothing! And there's really no need to waste any more of our time, don't you think? I mean really, wasting our time on nothing. It's silly, right? It was nothing, Katara."

"Calm down!" she laughed. "Goodness, Aang. You act like you've committed a murder or something. Would you like some tea? Sokka just made a pot a second ago."

"No, thanks," came the reply. "I think I just wanna sit here and think. I was thinking before Toph interrupted me with her nonsense." I waved her off dismissively.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked, as if genuinely interested. That's just the thing about Katara: she's so innocent and at the same time so demanding. It drives me crazy.

I blinked. "Ha—ahem, nothing, Katara. I was really just thinking about nothing. It really was just nothing—"

Her soft hand had clasped my mouth. "We're not starting that again. You need some tea. I'll be back soon."

My muscles tensed.

I reached for her hand and I held it tight, preventing her from leaving. I don't know why I did it. I think it was the Monk Gyatso in me, the part that secretly lusted after women who were untouchable and unreachable. But I was afraid. Afraid that Toph would spill my secrets to Katara. Afraid that Katara would lose interest. But I was also sick of being so passive and lovesick.

I was disgusted with myself. Monk Gyatso had told me, "you'll understand when you're older," and at this very instant, I believed I understood everything.

"Katara, please sit down," I asked calmly, although my nerves were swelling inside. "I need to tell you something."

So she sat next to me, smiling like there was nothing wrong, and looking out at the sunset. "Okay. What is it?"

Now (at this very second, this very moment) she is right next to me, and we're looking out at the reddened sky together, and I can feel heat rise up to my face. _This is it, _I'm thinking right now. _This is it, Aang. This is it._

"Katara...what would you say if...if I told you that..." I'm turning around to face her, because I feel that I should, that what I have to say is important and really does matter. "What would you do if I told you that...that for a really, really long time...since we met, I mean...and every single day after...what would you say if I told you..." I'm stammering again, and my face is red and bright and I'm sweating like a fool. "What I'm trying to say is, well...here, if I said...if I told you..."

She's leaning in, trying to hear me, because my tone and voice have dropped. There's nothing but pure confusion on her face.

"If...well..." I take in deep breaths, trying hard to keep my eyes on her, because this really is important, and it's hard, regardless of what Toph said. "Katara...what I'm trying to say is...that since we met...I've...I've always been thinking and thinking and thinking and just trying to word this...and Katara...since you saved me from that iceberg...and since I saw you...and...you should know. Katara—"

I don't finish. She's leaned in too closely, and I can't help myself. I reach out and grasp her hands. She looks down and blushes furiously, and I stop rambling. Suddenly all I can do—all _we _can do—is stare.

We are still sitting like this, red hues on our faces (from the sunset or each other?). She knows what I'm about to say. She _has _known, probably for a very long time.

A realization dawns upon me: I'm not going to be rejected. Katara is holding my hands, and she's sitting so close I can feel her breathe. And I didn't force her to do any of this...because...because...

Because I think she loves me too. I think I can feel it. And that's good enough for me. The rejection will never happen. And the world, the Fire Lord, and the Great War suddenly vanish.

I'm taking an impulsive plunge, getting closer to her face slowly, and closing my eyes. It doesn't take long for me to notice that she's doing the same thing. When I feel her lips brush against my own, I feel every muscle in my body strain like a rubber band.

My nervous head moves back, but Katara's coming closer to me again. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe (the girl that has entertained my thoughts for the past several years) is kissing me back, and her hands have moved up to my bare shoulders, and mine have moved around to her back.

When she breaks away from me and we open our eyes, we're still bright red (from each other this time) and still in our embrace.

"You...you kissed me," she says, blinking. Her smile is cautious and timid, and she's looking down. "Aang...you..."

"There was no other way to explain what I had to say," I justify, shrugging. It's amazing how easily the words come. "And you know, Katara...you kissed me back." I'm overjoyed and nervous at the same time, her hands still on my shoulders, my fingers right over her skin.

I can't help but notice that her cheeks and ears have grown even pinker. "You had it coming, Mr. Avatar," she says as she stands up. "I had to stop the stammering somehow."

And just like that she's walking back to camp, leaving me to take in the remainder of the sunset alone, swimming in my own thought, and wondering if what I've just experienced is a dream or reality and if it will ever happen again, and when I will wake up.

And if Monk Gyatso is up in the clouds of the Spirit World, looking down and shaking his head. "What kind of monk are you, anyway?" He's asking me playfully. "Kissing girls whenever your heart desires. You're not a monk, Aang! You were never meant to be a monk! You've grown too strong of an attachment to the earth, to a girl associated with the ocean." I'm smiling and closing my eyes, feeling the red sun on my skin, and realizing that he's right. That the attachment is too strong. Katara was meant for me; I was meant for Katara. And I was never meant to be a monk.

I was meant to be a nomad.


	3. Toph: Of the Present

**Spoilers for the Invasion in this chapter. Don't say I didn't warn you!**

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_For the Present_

* * *

Contrary to what my friends may think, it's not hard for me to imagine how other people look like. I'm sure their faces are fairly similar to my own: two ears, two cheeks, lips, a nose, and eyes. Although the vibrations aren't always very specific, I've learned to take what I can get, and make the most of it.

I can tell that Sokka's facial features are similar to Aang's. Both have the narrow, square jaw structure of young men. Katara's facial features (which, I am assuming, are similar to mine) are less dense, but dip in and out gracefully, and that's probably why she can get Aang to do almost anything for her without yelling.

There are things I can sense. Liars lie and their heart beat plummets and rises, and I can tell right away that some thing's up. Aang and Katara come back from spending the day together, and both of them sound nervous and excited. I can pick up tones that seeing eyes can't. But then there's something else that I can't sense at all: the gazes and "looks" that people give to one another, and their contorting facial expressions.

Sometimes Katara asks Aang to turn around, that his constant staring is quite annoying. Sometimes Sokka asks his sister why she looks so sad and forlorn, and then they're silent, and then I feel Sokka nod understandingly. There are times when both Katara and Aang burst out laughing, even though nothing was funny to begin with.

And then there's Katara's high pitched squeal of a laugh. Don't get me wrong. It sounds...gentle...but...

But also feminine. Way too feminine for my liking, anyway. And, in a sense, just plain _girly._

And what was so funny to begin with? If I pay attention, I feel that their faces are turned toward one another. But which way are they looking? Up or down or into each other's eyes?

And what of it? I couldn't care less that, when Katara laughs, I feel Twinkle Toes grow anxious. I couldn't care less that I feel Sokka nod in her direction, as if she's doing the right thing. I couldn't care less that, even though my feet and hands are acute and can feel many different vibrations, I've never actually felt another person smile.

Of course, it _does_ bother me. In a sense, I'd like to slightly-kind-of-maybe be a little more like Katara. A little. I mean, not all of the time...not even a fraction of the time. Just sometimes...like when Sokka and I are left alone because Aang and Katara have bending to practice or food to pick up or breezes to shoot. Sometimes the silences are unbearable, and sometimes I wonder if Sokka is looking at me.

Why Sokka? I feel bad for him, on occasion, because his sister is helplessly in love with a bald monk and he's blind to it. Because his mother was lost in a Fire Nation raid and his father left him to raise a village alone. Because he's not a bender and he's living with a group of benders. Because he's a clumsy fool who thinks too much. Because he's...Sokka. There's no better explanation, no other way for me to phrase this.

I think I can relate to him. But also...I think I've grown far too fond of him.

Is this such a bad thing? Katara's high pitched laughter can keep Aang busy for hours. Does Sokka look at them when they're giving lovey-dovey looks to each other? Is he blind to the secret gazes the way I am?

After the Invasion failed us, we headed for the Western Air Temple with three or more new members to our group.

That same night, a full moon graced the night sky as we tried to rest. The only way I was able to know this information was because Katara wouldn't sleep a wink. She stood up numerous times and paced in and out between our sleeping bags, looking up and sighing. It was then I felt that Sokka wasn't sleeping with us. There was a presence some way off near the rails of the temple, overlooking the mountain ranges below. I assumed the form was Sokka, and Katara must have assumed the same thing, because she walked over and touched his shoulder.

"Can't sleep either?"

"No. It's a full moon tonight."

"You're still thinking about Hamma, aren't you?" Sokka's voice fell, almost until I could barely hear it. "Listen, Katara, just forget what she taught you, okay? She's just a crazy old woman with issues and—"

"I'm not thinking of her, Sokka." Even though I was meters away, I could tell Katara was lying. "Why aren't you asleep?"

There was a short silence. I heard Sokka sniffle gruffly and shift his weight. "It's...a full moon tonight."

Katara sat next to him, her arm around his shoulder in a consoling matter. I imagined her frowning. "Yue wouldn't want you to mourn her like this, Sokka. You know that."

Yue? Who was _Yue_? This wasn't the first time I had heard her name, and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be the last. I rolled to my side, moving loose strands of hair away from my ears.

"Even Aang's fallen asleep. We should follow his example."

"I'd rather not." It was then I noticed that Sokka's neck was craned upward, towards the sky. It sounded as if he was struggling to find words. "Do you think she's...still...you know..."

Katara scooted closer to her brother. "Alive?"

He didn't answer.

"You saw her spirit in the Swamp, didn't you? Of course she's alive, Sokka. She visited you. She must still care about you deeply."

"...You think so?"

Katara's pitch was high and excited. "Think so? I know so! And look at it this way," she pointed upwards. "Now you have the Moon Spirit always looking out for you. That's more than any one person can ask for."

She helped her brother up and they both headed for their sleeping bags. I closed my eyes and tried to understand what they had just talked about. But it made no sense to me. I didn't know who Yue was, but obviously she made Sokka very emotional and lethargic. And the Moon Spirit? I didn't care much for cosmic gibberish, but still, for reasons unknown to me, I was interested.

The next morning, while Aang was off exploring the Western Air Temple with Sokka and the rest of the group, Katara stayed behind and prepared breakfast. I stayed behind too, claiming that I could already feel what was around the temple anyway, and in hopes that I could ask about Yue without having Katara know that I had eavesdropped last night.

"Need any help?" I asked the waterbender, trying my best to sound dainty.

I felt Katara look up from her spot. Her head moved back a little bit. "Toph? _You_ want to...to help me make breakfast?" She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Well! This is definitely a first. Would you pass me that ginger root?"

I did as I was told, taking a seat next to the pot. "Katara, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

I was fairly glad that Katara couldn't tell if I was lying. "A few weeks ago, I heard Sokka mention 'Yue' when he was...asleep."

"I didn't know Sokka talked in his sleep," she claimed. "And?"

"I was just wondering who Yue is, that's all. It sounds like...a nice name." I felt my stomach churn.

"Oh." I heard little splashes as Katara chopped up the ginger root and threw it into the pot. "Yue is...well, Yue _was_ the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. We visited the North Pole before we met you, so that Aang and I could master waterbending."

"That's it?" I asked disappointedly. "She's just some princess?"

Katara's tone dropped, and I felt her face turn to me. "She was a very, very nice person, Toph," she told me, as if I had offended her. "She was a member of our Sister Tribe. She helped Aang find a simpler route to the Spirit World, and she was...very close friends with Sokka. "

Katara turned her face at the last statement as she added more mysterious legumes to the stew. I also realized that she was using the past tense to describe this person for me. "Did she leave or something?" I asked as I handed her some dried meat.

"Let's just say that, in a sense, she's still alive, but in another sense, she also left us."

"Hmm." I rubbed my feet. "So...she died?"

"In a sense."

"Who's sense?"

"Her death was complicated."

"How complicated can a death get?"

"It involved the Spirit World."

"And? A death's a death."

"Toph," Katara sounded aggravated and weary, as if remembering this was painful for her. I kind of regretted asking. "Let's just say that Sokka loved her very much and she sacrificed her life for a spirit to restore balance to the world, okay?"

"Hmm." Sokka loved her very much? Restoring balance to the world? I didn't remember Katara _or_ Sokka mentioning that on their little Yue discussion sessions.

"Why were you asking, anyway?" Katara inquired as she bended the stew into separate bowls. "It's really not a happy story." She paused, wiping her brow. "And Toph, do you really expect me to believe it's because you thought Yue was a pretty name?"

I heard her laugh before Sokka, Aang, and the rest of our new members arrived for breakfast. My head spun with thought and slight embarrassment. Katara was a clever one.

Over the next few days, I couldn't help but ask more and more questions about Yue. But then the questions branched. I asked Aang about Yue, and then about Sokka, and then about Suki and what Azula had said on the day of the Invasion. But the conversations I held between Katara and Aang always ended the same way.

"Toph, why are you asking?"

Or worse, "Why don't you just go ask Sokka?"

Because I couldn't! Because, for some reason, after I had heard the pain in Sokka's voice when he had asked, "Where's...Suki?" or the tremor in his heartbeat when he looked up to the sky, I had been provoked. I could actually _feel _Sokka's love life. And, because Katara and Aang were always so busy with one another, I figured focusing on Sokka was just my job.

Everything changed when Zuko joined our group almost a week after the Invasion.

Sokka was constantly standing up and sitting down, his heartbeat loud and angry, beating on the corners of his rib cage. He erupted and yelled and Zuko and at Aang, sometimes even leaking putrid words at his sister. He was tense and up tight, always shouting and acting nervous, because finally, there was another boy his age in the group. Who also happened to be a firebender.

Once, in the morning, Zuko had taken Aang to train off in the distance somewhere. It was our last day at the Western Air Temple. Our plans needed refining (much to my displeasure. The lazy days we spent at the temple were heaven). Katara had went with them, arguing that she should also be helping Aang train. The Duke, Haru, and even Tao wanted to see Aang firebend. So Sokka and I were left alone. Sokka because he hated Zuko, me because I couldn't care less if Twinkle Toes could firebend or not.

The silence began right after Katara said, "Finish packing our stuff, Sokka. And make sure Appa doesn't eat anymore of those yellow berries. They're going to make him sick."

Sokka grumbled a reply, and we were left behind.

I could feel him getting angry again, his pulse rising. His pace started, too. He walked back and forth in large strides, as if he was late for something.

"You need to relax," was all I could come with.

"Relax? Relax! You want me to relax, Toph?" I felt him throw his arms into the air. "We have the Fire Lord's son on our team. He's hearing our every word! He's always _right there._" He pointed to Zuko's sleeping bag. I imaged that it was colored red with a huge Fire Nation emblem on it. "Katara and Aang may have fallen for it, but I know he's up to no good. The way he walks around scowling at everyone! Ha! He thinks just because he's royalty he can march right up and do whatever he wants! Do you see the way he talks to Aang? The way he talks to us?"

"That's just his voice, Snoozles," I said flatly. "So he sounds like he's dead! Big deal. He's not plotting anything. If he was, I would know." I rubbed at my ankles. "Unlike you, he actually goes to sleep at night."

It was then I realized that I had said too much.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, walking over to me. "I sleep at night."

"Only when Katara persuades you too."

He took a step back, scratching his head. "How do you know that?"

"It's not like I was spying." Regardless of my regrets, I put my hands behind my head and stretched. "You two just talk really loudly, that's all."

He sighed at sat down, facing me. I wished dearly that I could see his expression. A look of hatred or suspicion? A smile or a scowl?

"Katara and Aang said you've been asking a lot of questions," he said, as if this had something to do with my eavesdropping. "Why?"

I shrugged. "You kept talking about Yue," I stated, trying very hard to keep my voice from cracking. I kept a mental note that I was going to kill both Aang and Katara after they came back from the firebending match. "I was just curious."

"Katara explained it to you?"

"Mostly," I replied. "Not everything. She was vague."

Sokka paused and breathed deeply before he began his explanation. "Admiral Zhao killed her...indirectly..." Sokka said. And then I felt his face drop, and his hands move up to wipe his forehead. "She had to sacrifice her life for the Moon Spirit...she's gone."

I was silent. I could hear a very, very soft whimper erupt from his throat. But he coughed and looked up again.

"This is why you hate Zuko?" I asked dumbly. "It's because he's Fire Nation, isn't it?"

Sokka didn't need to consider this. "They're horrible people, Toph. Living garbage."

"They took everything away from you," I reasoned, mostly because I wanted to agree with him.

And that was it. That was the first time that I actually really _did _feel sorry for Sokka. All of those other reasons shrunk in comparison. He had experienced losses far greater than anything I had ever experienced. His pains were far worse and far deeper than anything I could even _imagine_. His mother, father, and two lovers had been taken away by the Fire Nation. And now he feared he was going to lose his sister and closest friends as well.

But he needed to get over it. He needed to forget. "You have to remember that Zuko's changed," I explained. "I know it. He wouldn't have ran away otherwise.

Again, Sokka drifted off into silence. He cleared his throat. "Does that answer your questions about Yue?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

"Do you understand what I mean about relaxing?"

"Kind of."

I beat the floor with my fist, sending a small pebble right into Sokka's forehead.

"Yes! I get it. I'll relax! Goodness, Toph," he whined as he rubbed his head.

I imagined his facial expression: a confused, handsome, baffled look, asking me silently why I was always on his case, why I couldn't just leave him be.

And then I started laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked, flicking the pebble away. I could hear the smile in his voice. "Toph, why are you laughing?"

"I just imagined what you looked like," I said through tears. "Sokka...you look really funny."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He stood up, offended. "What are you saying?"

I also stood up and punched his shoulder. "Not like that, Snoozles. I mean, you look funny in a cute way."

I wanted to punch my own shoulder. _Hard._ The words had seeped out before I was able to stop them. I didn't have to feel his face to know that he was blinking.

But then _he_ laughed, heartily too, and I couldn't help but join in.

"So first you yell at me, and then ask me about Yue, and then sympathize with me, and then earthbend a pebble at my face, and then start laughing at me, and then say I'm cute?" He crossed his arms after wiping the tears away. "Toph, have you been eating those yellow berries or something?"

"You're saying I'm crazy!" I accused loudly, still fighting the urge to laugh again.

"Pretty much," he answered softly. "I just imagined you eating those sour yellow berries the way Appa does. So you are a little crazy." He paused and rubbed his neck. "But...in a cute way."

I felt myself blink, and hoped that the heat igniting in my stomach wasn't showing on my face. "Whatever," I told him quickly. "Quit your snickering and help me finish packing."

Am I at a disadvantage? Ever since that conversation with Sokka, I realized that it's great to imagine the expressions on peoples' faces rather than try in vain to feel them or predict them. It was just that simple.

And now, I think Sokka does the same thing, because sometimes _we_ burst out laughing for no reason, poking fun at a world unseen to Katara and Aang. A world free of firebenders and hatred and Spirits. A world of vibrant imagination, contorted facial expressions, open to benders and non-benders alike, a world that both Sokka and I can see.

Where I think he forgets the pains he's suffered in the past, and looks instead at what he has left to experience at the present.

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**Author's Note:** Extremely pleased with everyones reviewing and alerting. Very nice to see such positive feed back! D

I'm sorry if I just ruined the Invasion for anyone. I think everyone's already watched it on show links anyway. I'm also sorry because even though I love Tokka, it's very hard for me to write it. I hope everyone was in character.

Remember to review, for those of you who haven't done so! Your comments are greatly appreciated, and make my updating even faster.


	4. Sokka: Unstable

**The Drabble Scrolls **

**Author's Note**: Sorry for the wait, everyone. Sokka isn't as easy to write about as I had thought he was, but you know. It was fun anyway.

Again, I'm really sorry I haven't gotten around to updating. Just remember to review. It'll be like your holiday gift to me!

Also: Spoiler for Episode 12 (The Western Air Temple). It's small though...just a warning.

-ScorpioRed112

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_Unstable_

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There was something wrong with Katara's lungs. 

It was when she was little...she probably doesn't remember it. When she was born, my Gran Gran lifted her up and noticed she was slightly blue. When they realized she wasn't breathing, they pumped up her chest with their thumbs until the air inflated her and forced a tan shade across her cheeks. She gasped as if she was an old woman, and then went to sleep.

I remember because my mother exclaimed to me with tears in her eyes, "Oh...Sokka, your little sister...she's isn't stable!"

She was so scared that Katara was going to die, because she had had a miscarriage before me, and now the thought of losing another child was slowly creeping back into her head. It scared me too, because I didn't want to end up like Katara. I didn't want to become unstable or cough or die or do any of the above.

Gran Gran said that, unlike Katara, I was born balanced. Stable. I came out and cried a little before settling. And when I started to crawl around the igloo, I organized things and gave them names, and built little watch towers out of snow and ice, and I rarely cried about anything, but tried to understand the reasons of what was going on rationally, and always asked questions.

Katara was quiet when we were growing up, but her temper would erupt over the smallest things. "So sensative!" my mother would bark, out of breath, and exhausted from watching Katara all day long. "What do I expect? Such an unbalanced child."

The problem was that the world we lived in wasn't balanced at all, and maybe that's why Katara was born with the gift of Waterbending and I wasn't. The sun refused to come out on certain days, and sometimes it snowed so hard that the watch towers I built would get covered. It didn't make any sense to me...then again, I didn't know that the rest of the world even existed at that point.

When the Fire Nation attacked and when my mother died and after my father was leaving and just as we set out on Appa right as soon as we met Aang, I realized nothing was stable anymore. Not even the world we lived in.

And of course, after careful inspection, I noticed that not even Aang was stable. He erupted at the Southern Air Temple, his hatred and pain so great that it blew the bones and dust away from Monk Gyatso's skeleton. Katara and Aang both...they bend and move and go crazy just like the elements they bend.

I don't want to say it...but maybe I will...because I feel it's true. Sometimes I realize that there are only two stable forces in our group: my rational explanations and questions and Toph's unchanging opinions and reason.

Personally, she's the one who convinced me to allow Zuko into our group. I thought about what she had said and realized that we couldn't really let emotions get in the way of our plans. Aang needed a teacher and Zuko just happened to be available. In all truth...she was right.

Toph was never overexcited about anything, or too depressed, or too angry. She was subtle but potent, letting her opinions out without screaming them like Katara usually did, or keeping them inside like Aang.

Even though her senses were unbalanced because of her blindness, she was unmoving and clear. And, no matter what I'm trying to tell myself now, I had immediatly grown attached.

So it was hard, for me as well as the rest of us, when Toph burned her feet. Because I had come to see Toph as such an unchanging, constant stone, I couldn't bare to see her helpless. She had to crawl to get from place to place without our assistance, and I found myself carrying her wherever she needed or wanted to go. But there was something else, too. She was _afraid_...afraid that her feet and toes would never heal, and that a huge, burning red blister would plague her feet for the rest of her life. I could tell.

"Katara, how much longer?" she would ask impatiently, tugging on the edges of her over shirt. "A few more days?"

"Maybe weeks," Katara would answer slowly, inspecting the blind girl's feet. "Really, Toph, did you _need _to go see Zuko? Look at what happened, Sokka. Can you see this? These scars are just impossible." Katara would sigh nervously and angrily, her breath wavering. No matter what, she was never going to let Toph forget that what she had done was a mistake on her part.

"Just shut up and heal," Toph would retort, her eyes narrow. And then her tone would soften. "Hey...um, Katara, they're going to get better...right?"

I still remember Toph gently rubbing the sores on her feet, and silently I would wonder how on earth she was going to possibly "get Zuko back," if such a thing was possible. He had probably hindered her ability to live a semi-normal life because of his Firebending, even if it was unintentional.

There was something else, too...because Toph became less stable than before. In all honesty, it started to scare me.

She wouldn't let her guard down. Her face was always contorted and her expression alive. Even a little while after she was able to stand again, she kept a palm close to the ground, ears always attentive to where Zuko was standing. Once she erupted at Aang for leaving the fire running all night instead of putting it out. Another time she was so excited that her feet had healed somewhat completely that she swung her arms around Katara's neck and thanked her for being such a great healer, although most of the healing had been done by Toph herself.

Zuko in the group meant Katara getting angry and upset over nothing. She always shot him glances that suggested hatred and disgust, and then she would calmly return to her meal or whatever else she was doing. There was no doubt, having Zuko with us was weird. Especially because he never called us by our proper names. It was always, "Water Tribe boy" or "Earthbender" or "Avatar." He didn't speak to Katara much or at all, and when he did, his voice was hollow and empty.

Once, after another argument with Aang about our plans (or something else...to be perfectly honest, I seriously have no clue to this day), Katara went into a fit. Her breath was ragged and she wheezed so hard that mucas exploded from her open mouth. Her eyes were wide with terror, and I gripped her firmly and pounded her back the way I had seen Gran Gran do so many years ago.

It did nothing. She would stop and then start up again, coughing and breathing so heavily that it sounded as if sandpaper lined her throat. When her face turned that ghostly blue color that I could easily distinguish from my memory, I looked at Aang in desperation, begging him to please _do something. _

And as if he had known what I wanted him to do, he ran over and gave my sister mouth-to-mouth right in front of me.

I would have done it myself, but I didn't know how. And even if I did, I couldn't...not to my sister, who was not only related to me but my dearest and nearest posession. I would have been too afraid to even try, afraid that I might kill her by accident or something ridiculous of that sort.

Aang's breaths were steady even though his face was red and sweat visibly glistened on his brow. Katara had taught him what to do months before, because he had been curious as to why people would be saved by "a little kiss." Now, it looked as if he had learned everything perfectly. He opened Katara's kimono (just a little, because I was right there, probably) and compressed the center of her chest. _One, two,_ _rescue breath. One, two, ten compressions._

I briefly wondered what it must have felt like to have lungs opened by an Airbender.

Katara's fit stopped after she and Aang had locked lips about five times. And then Aang did it once more, without any compressions, just in case, but it didn't look like he was delivering any air to me. And then Katara shoved him off of her, probably still angry about the argument they had just minutes ago, and then hugged him and said she was sorry for being so mad before. And he said he was sorry for not helping her soon enough and being so stubborn. And I was sorry that I was there watching them gush over each other as if I didn't exist.

I went inside to find someone to talk to. At this point, I didn't even care if it was Zuko. But I found Toph instead, standing over one of the balconies in the Temple, her face focused as if she could actually see the view in front of her.

"Katara's okay," she told me calmly, as if I didn't know.

"Yes," I answered, slightly annoyed. I stood next to her, noticing that her hair happened to be down and that it reached the base of her spine. "Why didn't you check up on us?"

She took her time, playing with a strand of her hair, pulling it through all five of her fingers. I was faintly aware that it was sunset. "I knew she'd be okay, Sokka. Both you and Aang were with her."

I paused briefly, contemplating. "So...you know what happened?"

"Of course."

I didn't answer. I just stared out at the mountain ranges below the balcony, wondering why the hell Aang had to go do what he did...even if he had saved my sister.

"You're angry," she said calmly, again as if this was a new fact to me.

"Hmm."

"You know, this isn't the first time they've kissed before."

"_What?_" I felt a strange amount of heat rise to my face. "What? What do you mean this isn't the first time they've—they didn't kiss! That was just...Katara couldn't breathe and Aang was—Wait, what do you mean?"

"Would you relax? I only said that to calm you down." She turned to me. "It obviously didn't do any good."

"What do you mean this isn't the first time they've kissed?" I asked again, my head throbbing. "And how the heck was _that_ supposed to calm me down?"

"I mean that they've done it before is all, so don't be so shocked. And if I'm right, they'll probably do it again some time tomorrow, or the next day. Just get used to it. Relax. It's no big deal."

There was nothing I could add at this point. Everything I had ever imagined about my sister and the Avatar turned to assumptions and anger. I sighed, my head filling with horrible thoughts and impulses to go back and beat Aang to a pulp, before I felt Toph touch my shoulder.

"When?" I asked quietly, trying hard not to pound the balcony.

"The Invasion," she answered, her tone surprisingly apologetic. "It really doesn't matter, Sokka. To be honest with you, I knew they were going to end up together some day. You just need to get Katara to admit it first."

"That wasn't a kiss though," I assured, still conscious of her fingers right on my shoulder. "I kind of asked Aang to do it...only without really asking him...It just happened—but it wasn't a kiss."

"The first five weren't."

"Toph!" I grasped her shoulders firmly. It surprised me when I saw her face turn a very faint pink color, and how her eyes widened and mouth opened just a bit. "You aren't helping!" I exclaimed loudly, while at the same time trying fairly hard to keep my temper. "You aren't supposed to tell me these things! Just...just keep them to yourself, alright? The last thing I want to hear about is how Aang and Katara—_agh_! You're ridiculous!"

She pried my hands off of her calmly, turning her false attention back to the view in front of her. "If you ask me," she retorted, "you're the one being ridiculous." And then, as if I had asked her to, she turned around and shook her head before turning to walk back inside. "I used to think you were different, Sokka." Before she reached the door, she turned her face over her shoulder just once more. "I just want to know why no one in this group is stable anymore." And then she left.

I blinked. My eyes opened and closed many times, actually, wondering about what Toph had just said. Stable? Stable! She was the one always being so...so—

So Toph! What was wrong with her, telling me about Katara and Aang's...well, whatever Katara and Aang even had at that moment? I just didn't want to hear it.

I slumped my shoulders forward as far as they would go, and realized that I was afraid of myself for losing my temper. I was afraid of losing balance.

And...also...well, I hated to admit it, but Toph was right. She was more stable than anything I could ever conjure. She was unchanging. She had her outbursts, of course, but really now...she was only trying to help. I mean, I guess I was wondering what Aang and Katara were doing on top of the submarines. I hadn't willed myself to look but there was still that thought crawling into me, winding its way around my brain, whispering thoughts into my head.

Who was the blind one here? Or had I just refused to see?

Suddenly I was angry at myself for acting like such a child, and I promised that I would make it up to the young Earthbender, because she had already been through enough throughout the week. And I owed it to her.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier," I told Toph that night after Aang, Katara, and Zuko had fallen asleep. Ironically, we both ended up at the same balcony that had harbored our..."argument" earlier. "I know you were only trying to help but...you just have to understand that knowing that kind of stuff scares me...as a big brother."

"It doesn't mean you should be blind to it," she answered calmly, playing once again with her feet. "You shouldn't be blind to anything."

"I know. I agree completely."

She turned to me, a baffled expression gracing her paled face. "You aren't going to argue?"

"No. That would be useless," I said defiantly, crossing my arms. "Because you're right, Toph. As soon as you came to travel the world with us, I knew. You're just balanced. You're...well, you're _stable_. More stable than I've ever been, if anything. And...I...I guess I just respect that."

When I stopped talking, she turned her attention back to her scarred left foot, which she had propped up on her lap. I couldn't help but notice that it still needed healing.

Then she stood up without saying anything, and I regretted that it was too dark to read her expression. She turned to me briefly, her hand on her neck. It sounded as if she had wanted to say something but then she stopped herself quickly before the words could spill out. "Thanks," she sputtered finally. "That means a lot coming from you, Sokka."

"Of course."

"No, it does," she assured, her tone low. "But...it's okay to be kind of unstable sometimes, you know?" She grimaced when she continued, and I could easily tell that she was picking her words carefully, unlike before. "I think it's great that you care about your sister and want the best for her. If anything, I should be sorry because I told you about what had happened on the Day of Black Sun. It was really none of my—well, you know...I was just trying to help you see it in perspective. I'm..." She paused and breathed inward, the air passing through her lips quickly. "I guess I'm sorry, okay?"

"Toph—"

And before I could retort or tell her that it was my fault completely for letting Katara have that stupid coughing fit in the first place and that I no longer cared whether Katara and Aang kissed or not, Toph Bei Fong, three years my junior, wrapped her Earth Kingdom arms around my chest and suppressed my breathing.

I stood there dumbly, because part of me had expected this. Because I knew that somewhere, somehow, Toph and I were the only two rational beings left in our group, and naturally, we couldn't leave each other. Because I knew that we needed to keep ourselves in check before going crazy like Katara or Aang or even Zuko. Because I saw that Toph wasn't an unchanging stone at all, but a hurling avalanche waiting to explode.

Because I realized that day that (even though it frightened me) it was perfectly okay to be a little unstable. Just a little unbalanced.

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A/N: I hope everyone liked. Writing from a guy's point of view has proven difficult. 

Remember to review so that I shall update!!


	5. Katara: Shallow

**A/N: **Sorry this is late, everyone! Please forgive the wait and think more about the update.

This chapter is one of my favorites. I might do a Maiko after this, but I want everyone's opinion first. Should I do a Maiko? Any ideas?

And, as always, REMEMBER TO REVIEW!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own A:TLA.

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_Shallow_

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The last words Toph spit at me before we stopped talking to one another were as follows.

"Waterbending, huh? I'll say you're a waterbender! You're about as evil as they come, Katara, and twice as shallow, too!"

I had no idea what else to add. When she spun on her heels and left me standing there, I felt as though I should hold her back and really ask her what she meant. Shallow in what regards?

Of course, there was an argument before that. An argument that led to greater things.

It's been about three days now, and I'm constantly telling myself that she _will_ eventually get over the argument. But she's avoided me completely, and sometimes I hear her muttering something under her breath when I pass by, or I feel the earth beneath my feet rumble angrily before settling again. Toph is dangerous when she is angry—just like I am, too—and I know that this has to go away before our bending gets the better of us and the elements start to fly.

"She called me bossy!" I told Aang after the first argument had blown over. "How in the world am I bossy? What did I ever do to her? Bossy, she says! Ha! If I'm bossy, that makes her a rude little brat, that's what! At least I can support that, huh, Aang? Bossy!"

Aang never really cared much for the friction between me and Toph. If he did, I am convinced that things would have come out differently. Most of the time, he just stared at us when we argued or fought or hissed insults back and forth.

"Am I right or what?" I pressed, stubbornly waiting for an answer.

"Hmm."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you taking her side? Aang! Answer me! Look at me, Aang, right now. I have to settle this!"

"Would you calm down?" he inquired boldly after I had grabbed his face and forced his eyes to meet mine. "You're overreacting, Katara. This is all going to be over soon and you're going to regret being so nervously worked up about it."

"I am _not_ worked up!" I defended, releasing my grip. "She called me bossy, Aang! How in the world am I supposed to live that down? And what did I say back, hmm? I just stood there like an idiot and let her leave! Bossy! Of all the insults in the universe!"

"She was just angry," he fused lazily.

There was a brief pause, in which I noticed that Aang had neither refuted nor supported Toph's theory of me being 'bossy,' as she put it. I eyed him up and down, and I saw that his eyes grew wide when he realized that I was thinking intensely on something involving him. He pulled at his collar.

"You're right," I said as calmly as I thought possible, sitting across the table from him. He gave me the most puzzled expression I had ever seen him wear. "I need to calm down, Aang. That's exactly what I need to do."

"Uh...right." He blinked. I could see his mind was working behind those calm gray eyes he always sported. "Glad you see it my way, Katara. There's nothing like taking it easy, you know?"

"Right, right. Of course, dearest, of course." I admit that I was perhaps-maybe-slightly being a bit flattering with him. But I can't be totally blamed for the ordeal—Aang just works that way, I suppose, and sometimes one has to know how to use others for their own advantage. So I scooted next to him, and smiled so sweetly that I could barely believe myself. "There's something else, though," I said softly.

"What's that?"

I forced myself to bite my lower lip, something I detested doing in the first place, and sighed desperately and loudly, one hand on my chest and the other on my forehead. "Oh, Aang!" I exclaimed, taking one of his hands in my own. He looked up at me. "It's so stressful to be confused! Sometimes I just don't know what to do anymore!"

He looked genuinely worried. "Well...what's confusing you?"

"Just about everything, I'm afraid. Nothing makes any sense anymore!" I pushed my head into the table and covered my eyes with my hands.

"Katara, I'm sure you're just over—"

"Oh, forget it, Aang. I wouldn't want to worry you."

"Don't say that," he ordered crossly. Don't feel bad for him, I warn you—Aang can't resist helplessness. And though—I'll admit it to you, but to no one else—I hate playing the damsel in distress, it seems to pay off every now and again. "Just tell me what's wrong, Katara. We can have a good laugh about it later, okay?"

"If you insist," I said quietly, lifting my head from it's burial. I played with my thumbs and hid my gaze from him, trying to act as defenseless as possible. "Aang," I began gently. "It's just that—well, I'm—I'm afraid what Toph said about me was true. What if I really am snobby and bossy and all those other curses she hissed at me before?" I sniffled audibly. It sounded fairly fake, I'll admit, but Aang seemed to buy it. "I think I've become a horrible person! How awful is that, Aang, when you realize you're a horrible person?"

"Oh, come on Katara, she didn't mean—"

"It's not about her meaning those insults," I whispered. "It's about her opinion, Aang! Oh, goodness, it matters to me...and there's no way of knowing if these things are true. Don't you see? I'll never know if she said those things out of her stubbornness or if she really meant them! What am I going to do, Aang?"

"I think maybe she just—"

"No one can help me!" I complained, wiping the corners of my dry eyes. And then I looked up fiercely, as if a brilliant idea had struck me. "But—you! You can help me, Aang. Can't you? Won't you?"

"I—I mean...of course, Katara. What do you—"

"Here," I interrupted. "I'll just ask _your_ opinion of what she said. And then you can tell me if I really am a snobby, bossy evil person." I batted my eyelashes quite subtly. This was becoming almost too simple. There had to be a catch.

Just as I had predicted, my fun stopped short, because Aang started shaking his head and smiling as if he knew this was coming the whole time. "Would you please let me finish?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"Finish!" And then my cover erupted. He had found out and, in either case, I couldn't take much more of this flattery behavior. "Finish, go ahead!"

"You wanted my opinion from the beginning," he started, the smirk never leaving his face. "First you were angry and you were exploding all over the place, and then you saw it didn't work. You're clever, _dearest,_" he mimicked, although I can't say that I wasn't surprised at how closely it resembled my own voice. And then, without warning or consent, Aang took my hands in his again. "You want to know if I think you're bossy," he concluded. "Because, if I tell you that you aren't, my opinion will rule over Toph's. Now, Katara, tell me if I'm right."

I grunted angrily and looked away.

"You and Toph are good friends," he reasoned. "What she means by 'snobby' is simply that you aren't always down to earth or attached, Katara. Remember when you promised her that you wouldn't eat all of the sugared dates Sokka bought her?"

"Yeah, yeah. So what?"

"Well, you ended up eating them anyway. Then you lied and blamed it on Momo, and then she could tell you were lying and accused you of being a thief. Just because you're older than her doesn't mean you have the advantage to break that promise. You see my point, don't you? Sometimes you make promises that you don't keep, and sometimes..." He trailed off after that, but he had caught my attention, so I tightened my grip on his fingers.

"Finish!" I demanded instantly. "And I sometimes what?"

Aang truly looked anxious. He made a face at the table and then looked at me. "I think, compared to Toph, you spend more time on...well, on yourself. You know, clothes and hair and...stuff that Toph doesn't really care much about. And then there's the fact that you're always worried about her getting germs all over the place. In a way...it's a little bit—I don't know—superficial, I guess."

My mouth fell open. "_What_?"

"It's not a bad thing!" he replied. Slowly, he breathed through his teeth and let go of my hands. "You wanted my opinion, and there it is, Katara. Raw, true opinion."

I expected him to leave the room we had been sitting in, but he didn't. Instead, he called to Toph, who stood at the doorway of the small complex and crossed her arms.

"What do you want?" she asked in the tone that I despised so well.

"Katara wants to talk to you," Aang answered, and then—and only then—did he leave.

"I never—I didn't say I wanted to—hey, Aang? Where are you..." But it was too late. Toph came and sat at the table with a smirk so wide it frightened me.

"Can't always have Twinkle Toes saving your butt, Princess," she said darkly, using a new nickname. "I said what I meant. You're bossy. And a total jerk. I'm not taking that back and I really mean it."

"You were _listening_?" If she wasn't blind, she would have seen that I was glaring, but I'm quite sure that it was obvious through my voice. "You little _brat_! Of all the rude, impossible things to do! You're an eavesdropper!"

"I can't help it if you flirt so loudly," she responded sarcastically. She batted her eyelashes and twirled a strand of hair in her fingers. "_Oh, Aang,_" she imitated. "_No one can help me! Oh dearest, wondrous, handsomest Aang—_"

"Knock it off!"

She blew kisses to an imaginary crowd. "_Lay one on me, Aangie-poo—_"

"Agh!" I stood up. I think it happened absentmindedly, but in either case, it happened—out of the already humid summer air, I pulled a good amount of water and crashed the aqueous whip on Toph's face so furiously and so hard that I heard the impact—like ice crashing against stone.

There was a very deep, uncomfortable silence. Toph lifted her face and brushed the water from her mouth and nose, and then she blinked out the droplets from her useless eyes. I should have said something—really, I should have—but I can never think that quickly. Things seem to happen without my control over them. And Toph! She always makes me so angry that I have no idea what I'm doing.

"How's that for bossy?" I asked, and even in retrospect it sounds harsh and disgusting, as if I was spitting acid on her. "I'm not going to hold back on you just because you're my friend, Toph. Before I'm _anyone's _friend, I'm a waterbender. I'm not going to let you insult me anymore, do you hear me? Never again!" I should have apologized, and I think I was about to, when she stood up and beat the earth so hard that my chair went flying.

I was completely surprised. I had been waiting for her to strike me, to hit me as hard as she could with a slab of earth or metal. I had it coming—I'll admit that, but don't tell Toph—and somehow I had estimated that earthbending was how she was going to get back at me. But she didn't! She took her anger out on a piece of wood instead of the source. I think I gasped, waiting for her to strike me, but she never did.

"Waterbending, huh? I'll say you're a waterbender! You're about as evil as they come, Katara, and twice as shallow, too!"

So it's been three days, up until today, and I'm still deciding what I should say next. Because, shallow or not, I think I've realized that only the closest friends you have tell you how to fix your personality, and only your best friends try and joke around with you even when you're angry. Part of me, I think, believes that Toph is absolutely right. I can be a bossy, hotheaded waterbender with my nose in the air. But I really do wish she would see the other side, also. The side that secretly admires Toph for everything she does and is even a little-tiny-microscopic-bit envious of her, too.

I'm in the process of making a mental note: "Katara, take a deep breath and take it easy. You need to apologize to Toph for slapping her with water. You need to tell her you didn't mean any of it. You need to tell her that, before you are _anything_ at all (waterbender, bossy, evil, or shallow) you are her friend, as she is yours."


	6. Mai: Normal and Extraordinary

**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to all of you who wanted a Maiko chapter so bad, and also to a friend of mine, Shay, who hates Mai with a passion like the red-hot-intensity of a thousand suns.

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_Normal and Extraordinary_

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Zuko didn't really exist before Azula told me that she had a brother. For the longest time I just assumed that the royal family never had other sons, and that Azula was next in line for the throne. In a way, it made me admire her more for a conquest unimaginable—just being born lucky.

When I saw him walking with his mother some way off, I'll admit that I looked, and maybe even stared, longer than I should have. He turned his face, the smile gone, and somehow seemed more confused than before.

"What? What are you doing?" he asked me kindly. He looked down at his tunic and pants, looked back up to me, and then felt his forehead. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Please, leave my brother alone, Mai," Azula scolded from the background. "He's a foolish boy. I'm surprised father hasn't had him locked up yet!"

Zuko grunted something undecipherable. "Well, at least I don't go around staring at people," he snapped weakly. I could tell it wasn't in his nature to be truly, deeply evil—the way Azula was. He turned his attention back to me. "I'm surprised _you're_ still alive, hanging around with my sister."

In all honesty, I had lost myself. It wasn't exactly love at first sight—to this day, I do not know if I really _am_ in love with this rebellious prince—but I do believe that I had grown interested. He seemed so nice, so gentle...so unlike Azula in everything he did. And I couldn't will myself to stop looking at him, just as I couldn't will myself to stop thinking of him or asking about him.

I can't say my efforts went unnoticed.

"This is the fifth time you've asked about _Zuko_ today," Ty Lee often teased. "Why don't you just get over with this crush of yours and marry him?"

"I never said I wanted to marry him," I answered calmly. "I just asked about him, that's all. No reason to get your hormones all worked up about it, Ty Lee. Calm down. We all know you have problems relaxing."

"Hm!"

Azula's insults weren't as easy to avoid.

"You seem to have taken to my brother," she would hiss, not once breaking eye contact. "It is obvious that you are infatuated with him and I should warn you that these emotions you are experiencing are far from _normal_. He is not a _normal_ child, therefore it would be preposterous for you and physically impossible to have a _normal_ relationship with him, Mai. Do you understand?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I would reply lazily, even though inside I felt like strangling her and Ty Lee both.

There was little that I actually _did_ to Zuko, if anything at all, that allowed him to notice me. Mostly, I would spy on him, he would feel another presence and look around the room, I would sink further into wherever I was hiding, and then he would grunt angrily and return to his works—writing letters to his Uncle, drawing pictures of Ursa, and even (as I found out later) writing poetry on the art of firebending, although I knew as well as anyone that he wasn't exactly good at it.

Once, he wrote a number of haiku's on Ty Lee. I moved from my spot after he had left the room for a break and read the paper, trying very hard not to laugh.

_Ty Lee is strange as they come._

_Bends like a willow,_

_She laughs like a hyena,_

_Waiting for the kill._

_Some days I wonder,_

_Where in the world my sister,_

_Found that bendy friend._

I suppressed the laugh from escaping only after I lifted both hands to my mouth. The style was simple and insulting, at the same time, innocent and childish. I think I was also laughing at his handwriting, which was far from legible. It pertained a certain boyish charm that found fairly entertaining to read.

Underneath the haiku on Azula's "bendy" friend, there were many others.

_Strange!_ I remember thinking to myself._ These can't all be his! Look how many there are, and how nicely arranged he's made them._

It was extremely abnormal for a 13-year-old boy to write any form of emotional pieces. But they were in fact a piece of work—marvelous, at that—and written on every member of the palace court. There were haiku's about his father and his mother. Numerous, numerous haiku's and descriptions were written on his sister, which (just by skimming over them) I gathered he detested grandly. His words ranged from "poisonous serpent that waits for the weary traveler and then strikes with venom poisonous enough to kill beasts one hundred times its size" to "a demon dressed in angel's clothes." I think I laughed at his imaginative writing, the way he added little pictures on the margins and little notes to himself. "Fix this line, AWKWARD," one said. "Remember to RYME," another noted. I felt as though, for the first time, I was actually getting to know Zuko, from the inside out.

Needless to say, I was deeply intrigued, and continued riffling through the papers carelessly, completely forgetting that Azula and Ty Lee were still waiting for me outside and that Zuko himself would be returning from his break soon. My papers stopped their busy fixture when I came across something of even more interest: a little, neatly organized book with the title "_When April Showers, Bring Mai Flowers._"

My heart must have skipped a beat, because I felt something pang against my chest, and before I could even open the cover—in that very instant—Zuko appeared in the doorway.

Imagine! Imagine, if you can, what a situation I was in. Of all the blasted things to happen, the worst _had_ to happen, just when I was about to read a piece entirely devoted to me.

I dropped the papers, and the small ink stone Zuko used fell on the ground and instantly broke to pieces. The papers also managed to drop a rounded bottle of red ink to the floor, and so his works became thoroughly soaked with ink, just as I was thoroughly soaked with remorse.

I don't think he knew what I was doing, or that he knew that anyone was aware of his private study here in his room. In fact, he had always managed to hide the papers from plain sight, and here I was—reading them, as if they belonged to me. And now, I had also destroyed some parts of them, too.

"What?" he asked in a defeated tone, taking a step forward and grimacing when he saw the red ink soak into the white carpet. "What are you doing?"

It was then I realized that I still held one piece in my hand—the favorite piece, if you will—the piece entitled "_When April Showers, Bring Mai Flowers._" I looked down at my fingers as if they were strangers, because I had no idea what I was going to do next. Surely, had I been Azula, I would have thought of a clever lie. Had I been Ty Lee, I would have laughed the whole thing off as an accident.

But I wasn't either of them: I was Mai. I was plain, normal, boring Mai.

"I'm just—I was just walking by when I—when I saw this," I stammered quietly, holding out the book to show him. His face turned the color of the ink on the carpet. "I shouldn't have—I didn't read anything, really, I didn't. I—I didn't even—I didn't know you wrote, Zuko."

He took the book away from me fiercely, a trait that I guessed came from his father's side of the family. With a flick of the wrist, it was on the floor with the other papers, the ink covering it from the bottom to the top.

I couldn't understand: there was no way he was just going to destroy such great pieces of literature. Thoroughly confused, I looked up at him, willing hard for my volume to remain uniform. "What are you doing?"

"None of your business," he muttered. "If I'm not mistaken, this is _my_ room. And right now, Azula and Ty Lee are looking for you."

Again, I couldn't stop staring at him. His features were dark and hollow, and at the same time, I could detect the smallest amount of sadness. I had seen him labor over all of these writings, and suddenly I felt so guilty that I nearly collapsed.

"Why are you still staring?" he asked loudly, looking down at his clothes. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No!" I exclaimed, feeling my temperament narrow. "There's nothing on your face but stupidity! You're just a great writer and now you've ruined everything you've written. Those verses were amazing, and look what you've done! "

"How would you know that if you didn't read anything?" I could tell he detested people prying into his personal life, but I wasn't about to give up without a fight.

"Because I _did_ read something, most of them," I admitted shamelessly, picking up the pieces that weren't as wet as the others. "There's no reason for you to...to be this way."

Absentmindedly, and perhaps out of the fine manners the court had forced into him, he started helping me. "What way?"

"I don't know!" I responded. We both reached for the little book at the same time, and my fingers danced nervously on the edge of the slightly moistened paper. I found the courage to look Zuko in the eye, and it was only then that I realized that I had indeed fallen completely infatuated with this boy. "I don't know—to be so much like...so much like..."

"Like what?" He let go, and I took the book and left the mass of papers and ink on the carpeted floor. Later, I would tell myself that the stain was blood—not ink—and that Azula had fought a brilliant battle against her brother there, and died doing it. I hated her. So much, I think, that I often let my imagination roam on what could happen to her body.

"Azula," I breathed, sucking in my lower lip. "So much like Azula."

He glared at me, shrugged, and then picked up the rest of the papers. He must have known what I meant, because he didn't refute nor comment on the answer: just nodded (ever so slightly) and continued cleaning up. "You are well aware that they are looking for you?" he asked finally.

"Yes," I said, still holding the book shut because—for some reason or another—I wanted his permission to read this. "I don't care."

"Neither do I."

"Can I read this?"

His face peered over at me from his place on the carpet. Now, I tell myself that I saw him smile, but in all truth, I do not remember. He might have smiled, I'm sure, but there's no way that I know that, and no way of going back in time and checking. In my memory—and for your sake—I'll say he did: smiled shallowly but noticeably, not showing any teeth but some how smiling to an affect of friendliness.

"So you...really think that I...uh, that what I wrote..."

"They were nice," I said simply, maybe sporting a smile of my own, maybe not. I can't remember. Zuko was returning to being a 13-year-old boy, fumbling about his work as if he needed to get it done. I returned to being the plain girl he saw almost every day, running with his impetuous sister.

His brows furrowed crossly. "Hmm."

"Yeah," I replied. "Can I read this or what?"

"Whatever you want, I guess. I mean, it's not..." He stopped mid-sentence and snatched the book from me, his face flaring into shades I had yet to identify. From the looks of it, it seemed as though he had remembered something that he had confessed into the pages of the little piece. I felt my heart sink.

"On second thought," he started, "you shouldn't read this."

"Why is that?"

"Because it isn't completed!" he finished hastily, flinching. "It's not done, and it's not for you either, so don't think that...It's just not finished, hear me?" Utterly fuming, he pointed to the ebony doors behind him. "And do me a favor—don't sneak into my room like this again."

I left, part of me wanting to grab him and smack some sense into his senseless brain, and the other part wishing dearly that I could have read it before I had asked him. Now, instead of feeling guilty for ruining the carpet and also his works, I felt so curious that I was about to explode. What in the world had he written on those pages that he didn't want me to see?

The next day, he was banished. And, for three years, I never saw him again.

In that time, I went back into his room (sneaking was no longer needed), and riffled through his drawers. I found the book, half red and half cream colored, with that glorious title beaming from the top. Vaguely, I wondered if he had ever finished.

I opened it and began reading.

"This girl, who walks around with my sister every day, is bleak and gross."

I grimaced.

"Her hair looks like a mushroom exploded and she doesn't look friendly. Sometimes, she stares too often."

I bit my lip and turned the page. Zuko had written a note: _Find socks._

"There are too many weird things going on in the house, and—for some reason—I think she's the norm of it all. Ty Lee is too happy...I have my doubts about Azula being normal...my father changed the day my mother left...and the Fire Nation is changing. I think I am too."

I stared into the words, looking for more. I turned it to the last page, where the red seeped up and covered everything else. There was only one line after that, and I was saddened, because it never came true. Because, when Zuko wrote it, he was looking towards a future free of war.

"I think, when it starts raining in April and the fire-red roses poke their heads out of the ground, I will give Mai one, and thank her for being normal in the midst of this all."

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_**A.N.:** Is everyone in character enough for you all? Please let me know, as I've barely written on Zuko and Mai before. There relationship has always hit me as strange._

_Scorpiored112_


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